Of the 12.8 million people unemployed in January, 5.5 million had been without jobs for 27 weeks or more, the Labor Department said.

There were job gains in professional business services, construction, retail and health care while employment at all levels of government “changed little,’’ according to the report.

In the past year, there was a loss of 276,000 jobs in government, mostly at the state and local level s and the U.S. Postal Service.

Congress is considering a number of proposals to stimulate job creation, including raising the cap on member business loans from 12.25% of assets to 27.5%.

In separate letters to the House Small Business Committee this week, both CUNA and NAFCU renewed their push for the legislation.

In addition, CUNA and several state leagues are working with small business groups on a Hike the Hill next week that will focus on what they see as the need for the government to do more to encourage small business job creation.